Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Using Side Tables As Night Stands

Okay, make that two night stands. Though technically they’re just the living room side tables…

Trim Painted 2 Loveseat

Nighstand As Side Table Bef

… that were displaced by the arrival of Karl.

So even though they’re not technically nightstands, we love our Target tables (from the Victoria Hagan collection, purchased a few years back) and those seeded glass lamps (from the now sadly non-existent Nate Berkus collection at Linens N’ Things) too much to let them go unused. So they’ve now found a new home in the master bedroom. At least for now.

Nighstand Night Pillow Clos

Not only do they start to balance the room more, they’re a huge help in the function department. Sherry’s poor short arms couldn’t take storing her cell phone and magazines on the floor much longer. At first we wondered if they were a little too low, but we’ve been reading in bed easily thanks to them, and we can also easily reach anything on the table since they’re within around 5″ of the top of the mattress, so we just roll over and grab.

Nightstand Johns Side

So although they may not be permanent fixtures in our bedroom decor (Sherry has this crazy hankering for eggplant lamps someday, and I, for one, would appreciate a drawer or something in our future nightstands for some extra concealed storage) they were f-r-e-e and they definitely do the trick for now.

And one cool byproduct of our new additions is the way they change the character of the room at night. Using the soft table lamps (instead of the bright white fan lights overhead) cozies up the room big time. It feels a lot warmer, the paint color takes on a greener feel, and there are a few dramatic shadows thrown on the ceiling, courtesy of Ed the Bed.

Nightstand Night Full

And I can’t even begin to express how awesome it feels to be able to turn off the light at night without having to get up and walk over to flip off the light switch on the wall anymore. Now I don’t have to fake-sleep so Sherry’s forced to do it. Sweet.

Nightstand Night Close Up

Next on our bedroom lighting to do list: replacing that not-so-purdy fan. We have our eye on something kinda crazy, but it makes us smile so it’s a strong possibility.

Comments

  3. Paula/adhocmom says

    I still remember when I had enough room (um yeah, at one point my bedroom was about the size of a closet) for a bed side table. Oh happy day! The simple joy of basically being able to reach over for a glass of water at 3 a.m. Glad you have your tables back. .

    Reply

  4. Barb says

    Hi Sherry and John:
    Hope your time with family went well and that the little one…CLARA was at her best.

    I think you are brilliant for using “what you have” rather than shop for new at this time. The tables look great and they are functional.

    My question to you both and I have yet to ask a question that has been answered in all my posts, but would love an answer to this one.

    Tell me your top five favorite books or authors that you enjoy reading or have read. Both you and John answer. I ask this as an avid reader and love to hear what someone else has sitting on their nightstand.

    Let me know.

    B.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Barb,

      Good question! I love chick lit (after working with words all day when I was an advertising copywriter all I wanted was some fluffy happy stuff at the end of the day). So I’d have to honestly say that my five favorite authors are: Sophie Kinsella, Jen Lancaster, Jane Green, Jennifer Weiner, and Helen Fielding. I could lie and list a bunch of hard hitting documentary authors but I rarely dip into that stuff. Haha. On the other hand John loves non fiction and is especially enamored with AJ Jacobs. Four other favorites of his would have to be: Malcolm Gladwell, Bill Bryson, Brad Meltzer, and Mary Roach.

      xo,
      s

    • Kristen in Hawaii says

      Butting in on the book/author convo to recommend Elin Hilderbrand…chick lit that takes place mostly on and around Nantucket. When I need to decompress with something fluffy but still smart, I ONLY reach for Elin these days. The Island was SO good!

  7. elle C. says

    I fake sleep to get my husband to change the baby’s diaper at night. He’s so sweet though, he’s never even tried to “wake me up”. I should probably feel bad.

    One thing I noticed though: you mentioned that Sherry puts her cell phone next to her in bed? Just wanted to let you know that any electronics near you while sleeping have electro magnetic waves that mess with your sleep rhythms. If y’all have trouble sleeping, try moving the electronics across the room.

    Reply

  9. Natalie says

    haha, love the “fake sleep” comment. :)

    The lamps look great in there! I love when people reuse items they already have instead of just tossing them.

    Can’t wait to see you what you guys do for a new light fixture!

    Have a great week!

    Reply

  11. Misty says

    I have a question for the pros!

    I have these amazing oil rubbed bronzed metal color sconces (candle sconces, not electric. They ae only used to be pretty!). They have glass bulbs – totally amazing. However, they are too heavy looking in my light and bright room. Here’s where it gets kinda tricky though. The color I am dying to paint them is this really pale aqua color. I would imagine that it would be ebtter to use spray paint, but I cannot find spray paint in that color. Can I use a regular wall paint in the pale aqua to paint them??

    Would love your opinion!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      You could try that (just apply very very thin and even coats with a high quality brush). You could also go to a store like Benjamin Moore, who can put any color paint into spray paint form for ya. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  13. Teryl W says

    I’d love to see the two nightstands at the bottom of your bed, side by side, used as a bench, when you find their replacements. Maybe with a cushion on top. The x’s side by side would look great.

    Reply

  14. Sarah@grownupnow says

    Haha I loved the “Now I don’t have to fake-sleep so Sherry’s forced to do it” comment! It almost made the chocolate soy milk I was drinking come swiftly back out of my nose.

    Reply

  16. Cathy says

    Love this post- those side tables are gorgeous! My partner also does the ‘fake sleep’ but he’s not very good at it: when I ask him why he hasn’t turned out the light he replies “Can’t, I’m sleeping”! Not impressed!

    Reply

  17. annabelvita says

    Wait – does this mean you have to sit in the living room by the light of that one strangely placed pendant lamp?
    They look great as night tables and the colour of that glass looks great with the duvet

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, we also have a big gourd lamp on the desk in the back of the room and we brought in two floor lamps for now (one in the corner, and one next to Karl’s chaise side). They do an ok job, but of course we’d love to add some proper overhead lighting someday!

      xo,
      s

  19. Christi says

    I just got this blog from a friend and i LOVE it!!!! I love the yellow rug you have in he living room. Where do you find this???

    Reply

  21. Jenn says

    Your place is just gorgeous! And Clara? Just adorable!

    I’ve got an 8 month old learning to pull up and get around. How do you balance baby proofing and keeping a baby who isn’t quite stable yet from hurting himself/herself?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Clara isn’t very mobile yet (our doc thinks she might go straight to walking and skip crawling like some of her cousins) so we’re just making adjustments as she grows. For now the house as it is totally works, but we know it’ll definitely evolve over time to suit her needs! Once Clara’s running around it’ll definitely be a whole different ballgame, and her safety definitely trumps house beauty (although we believe that you can have a baby and a lovely house- at least we intend to aim for that)! We promise to share all of our adventures in babyproofing as we go!

      xo,
      s

  22. waterlily227 says

    We have the same Victoria Hagan tables from Target and use them as nightstands too! We got them for our apartment, but when we moved to our house we loved them so much we painted them a high gloss white so that we could continue using them with our new stuff.

    Reply

  25. Kathi says

    John & Sherry,

    Just came across this post on another blog today. Once you’re ready for a more permanent nightstand solution this might give you some inspriation:

    http://marcusdesigninc.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-ikea-diy-dorothy-draper-style.html

    Not that you’d have to copy the style of the makeover (of course :) ) – but these unfinished, solid wood nightstands are only $30 each at Ikea. I’d never noticed them before and was super-inspired by this post to buy them and try my own hand at finishing them…thought you might like ’em too.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes I love that makeover. So amazing! Unfortunately when the door swings open it would hit a nightstand that wide, but we love that project for inspiration for sure!

      xo,
      s

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